My Bedroom Door Will Not Stay Open

Open the door.

Hold the end of the string of a plumb bob up to the top corner of the side of the door with the doorknob and watch how the weight at the end hangs compared to the door. If the door is installed properly, the side of the door should parallel the string of the bob. Most likely, you will see that the door is tilted. If the top corner sticks out further than the bottom corner, the top hinge likely has a problem; if the bottom corner sticks out more, check the bottom hinge.

Check the hinges and the screws connecting the hinge to both the door and jamb for loose connections. While the tilt of the door indicates which hinge is having more of a problem, it's possible that both hinges are in need of repair. Tighten all the screws for both hinges and see if the screwdriver stops turning once the screw is fully installed.

Replace the screws with ones that are slightly longer or wider than the original ones if the screws continue to turn. It's possible for the screws to become stripped, and it's also possible that whoever installed the door used screws that were just a bit too tiny, creating a loose connection that allowed the door to start leaning out.

Hit the top of each hinge pin, lightly, to drive it further into the hinge assembly. This may tighten the hinge so that the door does not swing as freely.

Run your finger over the edges of the hinge plates. All of these should be level with the surface they're on. If one sticks out, remove the screws from that portion and chisel out a small but level piece of wood from the mortise area. Reattach the hinge and see if that has solved the problem. Be extremely careful that you don't chisel out too much. If you find the hinge plate is sunken, Tim Carter of Ask the Builder writes that you can add a thin piece of wood or cardboard in between the surface and the hinge to fill in the gap.

Measure multiple points from the hinges to the edges of the door and jamb to see if a hinge was installed incorrectly. If the hinges are misaligned, this will affect how the door hangs. If you find the hinges are installed incorrectly, remove the culprit screws -- carefully because you don't want the door to fall -- and drill new holes that are placed correctly. If the new ones overlap the old ones, fill in the old ones first with wood putty and let dry according to manufacturer's instructions.

Hold the plumb bob up to the jamb if you can't find anything wrong with the hinges. If the jamb itself is out of alignment, then either the building has settled to the point where the jamb is now crooked, or the wall and jamb were constructed incorrectly. In either of these cases, you'll need to call in a contractor, because there could be other construction and settling issues beginning to emerge. Unless you're a licensed construction contractor, don't attempt to repair the jamb yourself.